Summer Vacation
by MadAboutSafron
Summary: Demyx suffers from incredibal bordem after Xemnas leaves mysteriously and decides to seach the castle he and the other organization members are stationed at, only to discover Xemnas's secret lair. Meanwhile Roxas has just begun summer vacation and just wants to have fun at the beach with his friends but experiences strange occurences that are directly involved with Demyx.
1. Chapter 2

"Being a nobody can be such a bore, Xemnas hasn't given us anything to do in weeks", Larxene complained as she reclined on a large couch that was stolen from one of the many worlds that had been destroyed by the nobodies. She was eating an apple that she had discovered in the back of the Organization 13's shared refrigerator and cringed after taking the first bite.

"Uukk, it tastes like crap!" Larxene said and quickly ran to the sink to spit it out and clean hear mouth out with water. Axel, who was sitting at the opposite end of the couch began snickering and put his hand over his mouth in vain hope that Larxene hadn't heard him. Of course she had and turned around, which caused Axel to look away and begin laughing harder.

"Shut up Axel!" Larxene threw that remaining part of the apple in his direction but missed as he quickly dodged it which caused it to hit the lower part of the wall in back of him.

"Jeezz clam down girl, what did the wall ever do to you?" Axel said as he put up his hands defensively and grinned. Larxene shook her head in an annoyed fashion.

"Why do you have to laugh at every little thing I do! I swear if I have to spend one more day with you I'm going to lose it! Larxene fumed. She was always an easy person to tick off but lately almost everything made her angry, especially if it involved Axel or Demyx. After weeks of doing pretty much absolutely nothing the members of the organization have slowly began to deteriorate mentally as they all suffered from boredom in its purest form. To prevent themselves from going completely insane, they had all developed a way to cope with the nothingness in their lives. Axel stayed occupied by annoying Larxene whenever he was given the chance, and Larxene cooped by yelling and throwing objects at the source of what was annoying her.

"Wait I have a question", Demyx suddenly entered the argument and spoke in exaggerated curiosity; putting his hand under his chin as if he was deeply analyzing the situation. He slowly began to point at Larxene. "How do you know what crap tastes like?" He could no longer keep on his serious expression and began smirking but remained in his questioning stance, pointing at Larxene. It did not take long for Larxene to reply.

"That's it! Somebody is going to die!" A shadow in the shape of Larxene suddenly appeared over Demyx and quickly began suffocating the blonde haired organization member. Demyx began making indistinguishable guttural noises as he attempted to push Larxene off of him with his feet. Axel watched the two blankly as he has many times before and slowly made his way over to the enraged organization member and struggled to get her away from her target. Finally he was successfully after he dragged the two across the carpet and Larxene finally let go, almost as out of breath as Demyx was but was clearly still angry.

"It seems that we, as an organization, can no longer stay together lest we destroy ourselves before we finish destroying others and their worlds", said a deep and gruff voice that came from behind the group of three, who now stopped their activities completely and turned around. The organization member was a little more than six feet tall and strongly built, with black dreadlocks hanging down the sides of his face and gave off a threatening demeanor despite showing little expression on his face. Demyx haphazardly backed up into Axel in fear and looked pathetically into the eyes of the bulky organization member who looked down at him momentarily then directed his attention at Axel. Axel did not seem at all fearful but more so curious as to how this man entered the room without making the slightest sound. His guess was that the argument between the two other organization members must of muffled it.

"Hey Xaldin, I didn't even hear you enter the room", Axel let go of Larxene and walk up to him. "Sorry if we bothered you or anything some people are just naturally loud and obnoxious", Axel sent a quick glance at Demyx and Larxene who responded with glares. Larxene crossed her arms and looked up at Axel.

"You better be talking about yourself and this idiot because you guys are the reason for my anger and misery", Larxene pointed at Demyx who avoided her accusations and pouted.

"Aww come on Larry, lighten up, you know we where just joking around with ya", Axel said as he shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in his pockets.

"How do I supposed to know when you're joking and when you're actually being serious when both of you go out of you're way to be total dufusses twenty four seven! You guys are the only people that I have had any social contact with for the past what? four? Five? Weeks? Seriously, I think you guys are lacking more than just hearts." Larxene was now almost just as loud as she had been a few moments ago and looked straight at Axel. This comment caused Axel to lose his calmness and he was now looking sternly back at her.

"Well gees, I'm sorry that someone as wonderful as yourself got stuck living with us losers and must deal with the horror of our existence on a daily basis, honestly I feel just as bad for you and wish I could leave and never see you again so your suffering can end, but that's not my choice now, is it?", Axel was now about a foot away from Larxene and both looked like they where about to kill each other.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm sorry that I'm not stupid enough to find the idiotic things that come out of your mouth funny and bring myself down to your level of intelligence! If you can even call it that!"

"Hmm, well you know what I think?" Axel pointed at his skull and spoke in a cruel whisper, "I think you should be the leader of the nobodies, the heartless, and Organization 13, because I don't think you ever had a heart to begin with, which is why you're better than all of us!" Axel raised his arms into the air and looked around the room as if he where speaking to an audience, "You where meant to be a nobody!"

Larxene was now clenching her teeth together so forcefully that one could have easily imagined them breaking. Although she was now more enraged than one thought possible, water began to build up behind her eyes and she screamed words that where undecipherable and launched herself at Axel with her blade in hand.

"Stop!" Xaldin barked and grabbed hold of both Larxene and Axel in separate hands and then pushed them both to opposite sides of the floor. He looked down at both of them and a mixture of frustration and disappointment could be seen on his face. He took a few steps back and crossed his arms across his chest, looking down as if in thought for a moment and then directed his attention back at the two disheveled organization members.

"You are a nobody" Xaldin pointed at Axel and then walked up to Larxene.

"You are a nobody" Xaldin pointed to Larxene then walked away so he was directly in between the two.

"Nobodies…have no reason feel such emotions over petty quarrels between themselves over things concerning their past lives, and it is foolish to attempt to frustrate our own kind or feel resentment over what we stand for". Xaldin slowly paced over to the couch that the other members where previously occupying and sat down on it, but did not lounge against it. He breathed in a deep sigh and rubbed his fingers over his temples, seemingly concentrated at the bluish grey carpet below him.

Demyx watched Xaldin anxiously as he contemplated the quickest and safest way to escape through the door before anybody noticed. Demyx did not like many of the organization members due to their cold and often aggressive mannerisms which Xaldin seemed to flaunt persistently and skillfully. He did not like this guy one bit, and spent much of his free time trying to track down his present location so he can do his best to avoid him. Demyx at least felt some comfort around the less serious members such as Axel and Larxene because they acted almost as if they still had hearts and on many occasions shared their emotions with the rest of the group, although this usually occurred only when they where agitated by something. The rare times Xaldin ever exposed anything that can be labeled an emotion was either when the other members where disturbing him in some way, or when he was assigned a new world to weaken and eventually destroy. None of the group members ever spotted even the slightest sight of joy on his face, but Demyx strongly believed that he found a secret happiness when fighting others.

The room stayed silent for a good amount of minutes after Xaldin's outburst with nobody moving from where they where situated. The silence was not an awkward one but more of a calming indifference as everybody seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Demyx's focus was now off Xaldin and concentrated on how he could end the plight of boredom that had been present the last few weeks. Suddenly an idea came to him that had been lingering in the back of his mind for the past few days but he had only now just considered putting it into action.

"Ok so here's my plan", Demyx stood up while saying this and turned toward the other three and pointing his index finger in the air "I think we should go find Xemnas and then ask him what's taking him so long with whatever he's doing, then he'll feel bad for making us wait so long and give us something to do". Demyx now had a cheery smile on his face and felt quite satisfied with his idea, although the others stared at him blankly. Axel covered his face with his hand.

"Okayyyy, that would be a good idea if we weren't in a giant castle and had absolutely no idea where this guy went, and he specifically told us not to disturb or go searching for him" Axel put his hands at his sides and looked directly at Demyx but did not do so in a way that would seem insulting but more so sympathetic. This idea had actually been occupying Axels thoughts for at least a week now and on several occasions thought of searching for Xemnas himself but had feared the possible consequences. Something about that guy was particularly creepy and one could only imagine what he would do to an organization member who disobeyed his orders. Still, Axel couldn't help but to be curious as to what Xamnas was doing exactly and if he had any alternate intensions.

"Yeah that is an issue, but a minor one. I mean, we haven't seen this guy in weeks and did he really expect us to wait this long? Wait? What if he doesn't even come back?" Demyx spoke his last sentence slightly panicked and began to look nervous, eyeing the walls of the room as if they where slowly closing in one him. "Why would a guy like Xamnas tell us to wait in some creepy, possibly haunted castle, for a number of weeks and not tell us anything about his plans anddddd…" Demyx's voice became obnoxiously louder with each word he spoke "expect us not to become suspicious of his big plan while we have nothing to do… or eat!" Demyx slouched with his arms dangling in front of him and looked pitifully at the other members, trying to read their faces. There was a long moment of silence until Axel spoke.

"Although I highly doubt that this castle is haunted I've never really trusted that Xemnas guy" Axel began to slowly pace around the group, "I think it's weird that he refused to tell us anything about what he intends to do and that he doesn't want us hanging around, almost like he's hiding something from us". Axel continued to pace slowly around the room and suddenly but sophisticatedly came to a stop. "Do you guys… think he's planning against us? Like maybe were just in the way and he's planning on getting rid of us eventually". Axel looked directly at the other three as he asked this.

"I guess it possible, considering that he is the most powerful of all the organization members and seems to lack both personality and emotion", Larxene answered nonchalantly. "I don't think he cares much about our well being, or even our existence for that matter". Larxene spoke almost as if she was annoyed by the fact, but her face showed little emotion.

"Well he's not really the huggy type and he kinda isn't the talky type either, well unless it's about the power of darkness, or taking other peoples hearts, or when he yelled at me when I borrowed that really cool white and black cloak he owns and used some of his grey dye and pretended I was him". Demyx rested his head in his hands and began to smile almost dreamily, looking up at nothing in particular. "I had so much fun that day, and everybody totally fell for it when I started attacking those people and told them I was Xemnas, the one guy pleaded for me to stop attacking their town and even threatened me because he thought I was Xemnas", Demyx had a dorky looking smile on his face, but suddenly changed his expression to disappointment, "Then Xemnas came and ruined everything and boy did he look mad, especially when he found out that I spilt ice cream all over his cloak when I bought some at that Hollow Bastion place". Axel gave him a perplexed look.

"Yeah, what made you think that doing that was a good idea anyway?" Axel asked in a confused tone. Demyx shrugged and answered nonchalantly.

"Boredom can make you do crazy things"

* * *

><p>The main hallway of the castle seemed like it could stretch on for miles and the large walls supported gigantic windows that where made of metal and stained glass. Each window featured the objects, individuals, and elements of each world that the organization had completely taken over, the pictures representing the true nature and individualism of each separate world. Neither sun nor moonlight shined through the colored glass since the castle itself existed in a realm of darkness that was unapproachable by means of ordinary travel. The darkness itself existed in a different dimension that, under the laws of space and time, ordinarily could not connect with other dimensions, although Xemnas held the power to somehow make it possible. Thoughts like this did not occupy the mind of the blonde haired man who walked down the hallways lazily while whistling the tune of a nameless song. He was once again bored and decided for the hundredth and something time to explore the castle which seemed as though it could go on for infinity.<p>

Unlike his past adventures through the castle Demyx was motivated to find a particular room in the castle. He was alone on this quest because the other organization members had voted against searching for Xemnas or anything related to him in fear of disobeying his orders. They had instead had retreated into other more familiar parts of the castle deciding that spacing themselves from each other would be in their best interests and prevent any further arguing. No official rooms where assigned to the organization members but throughout the weeks of waiting in the castle each member recognized specific areas of the castle of their own. Demyx frequented a large dark green room that had several large portraits of a few of the many rulers of the worlds that had once existed separately. For whatever reason the room contained many pillows and cushions that took up much of the floor space and was the first thing he noticed about the place. He enjoyed making giant pillow castles that he would stack up until they fell on him but his favorite activity was piling all the cushions into one spot and then running and jumping onto them which always managed to put him in a good mood.

Today was different though as he finally had decided to search for and then confront Xemnas about his absence and to figure out what his plan was all about. The one and most troubling fault in Demyx's plan was that Xemnas had not given him any indication as to where he could be found. Since Xemnas had planned on being left alone he most likely traveled to the opposite side of the castle where the majority of the members had not explored, thus would not be able to navigate themselves around easily. Because one could easily get lost in the many hallways, rooms, and stairways Demyx brought along a large ball of yarn that he had stolen from a peculiar striped cat when he had visited a place called Wonderland. He spotted a large statue made of marble and spun the yarn around the statues waist several times before tying a knot. The large figurine of what appeared to be an angry, cloaked; beast couldn't have weighed less than a ton and Demyx was sure that not even Xaldin would be able to knock it over. Shuddering slightly from the thought of the colossal organization member, Demyx quickly left the statue and began unraveling the yarn in his hands as he made his way through unfamiliar territory.

Upon entering the first room he noticed that this room seemed a lot less decorated than the last one and only consisted of a few pedestals that lay against both sides of the wall. A few of these supported vases that were the same shade of white as the walls and engraved on them were the names of various people whom Demyx did not recognize. He scratched his eye slightly as it suddenly felt irritated. Other pedestals supported nothing, and the white, grey, and black colored carpet that stretched the length of the room was the only other item in the room that Xemnas noticed. At the end of the room was a door that looked exactly like the many other doors he had seen throughout the castle. Seeing no other entrance he walked up to the door to open it and found himself in a room exactly like the one he exited; except there were two doors, one on each side of the wall reflecting each others appearance.

"Hmmm, I guess whoever made this castle didn't have much time to decorate", Demyx thought out loud. He decided to first approach the door to the left and opened it and once again found an almost completely identical room, but this time all the walls featured doors. He went over to the door to the right and found that this room also had a door on each wall. Demyx had anticipated having to deal with an issue like this but was surprised at how everything looked almost completely identical yet so complex all at once. He once again felt the urge to scratch his eye and decided to travel left and found that the next room had two doors and the room after that had three doors and then three doors again. Frustrating as it was Demyx believed that the relentless pattern of doors would eventually end and at least lead him somewhere that he would be able to remember. The large ball of yarn that he started with was now less than half of its original size and Demyx began to doubt if he would ever find Xemnas. He decided that once he had run out of yarn he would give up since without it he would get lost.

The sensation of a warm, furry, creature suddenly leaning up against Demyx's leg made him jump slightly only to notice a completely white cat with blue eyes staring back at him. It freaked him out a little because he had never really enjoyed the presence of cats, but without anything other than some yarn and the white walls surrounding him, the cat seemed to almost disappear into the floor and gave the appearance of floating blue eyes when it backed slightly away from him. The cat eyed the string on the ground and pawed at it momentarily then seemingly disappeared again when it turned its head suddenly. Demyx suddenly sneezed which startled him more that it startled the cat.

"So I guess you're the reason why I'm starting to feel like crap", Demyx stated and he sniffled and rubbed his face with both his hands. Momentarily he did feel some comfort since the cat was the only living thing he had seen in hours and seemed friendly enough but that all changed once the cat went into the other room and dragged something red in color.

"Meow", the cat stated as it pulled the mess of red yarn that probably went on for almost a mile toward Demyx, promptly setting it down next to his feet.

Demyx gaped at what was probably his only hope of finding his way out of the maze of rooms as his face contorted into an expression that could not be easily expressed. The cat seemed aware that the man in front of it would probably explode in a fit of rage in about five second and began to back away but still looked directly at Demyx. The calm quickly ended as Demyx let out a bizarre scream and pounced at the cat, ready maul the expectant creature. It quickly jumped out of the way and watched Deymx crash onto the floor.

"Grraaahhh!" Yelled Deymx as he looked up to see blue eyes. "IM GONNA KILL YOU!" he screamed as he sloppily lifted himself off the floor and launched himself toward the only blue thing he could see in the room. The cat seemed surprised at how quickly he retaliated as the hair on it's back stood and barley avoided the enraged man. Deymx did not fall this time and sprinted into the next room to see nothing. He looked around frantically when as flash of blue that could have only been the cat appeared in front of him for only a second. He chased the feline in a half crazed hysteria for a good twenty minutes and undoubtedly had no clue where it had taken him, his surroundings bearing no sign or progress or anything other than white walls and doors. The mixture of panic and rage had exhausted Demyx and he began to feel lightheaded and uncoordinated. He hadn't seen the cat in over five minutes but his allergies continued to torment him, his eyes watery and his nose congested, making it slightly difficult to breath. He wanted to give up but knew the cat was his only thing that could direct him out of the maze. The sound of scratching on the floor caught his attention and the cat sat nonchalantly against a particularly large stretch of wall, which he then noticed for the first time the cat's shadow that rested against the wall behind it. It was a strange phenomenon that Demyx paid little attention to and launched himself a final time toward the bothersome animal. What happened next did not make much sense as he lunged himself through the wall and ended up in dim hallway that only grew darker further down it. Demyx now knew that the cat had leaded him here purposefully and that it was either a friend or bringing him to his doom. Whatever the reason didn't matter at the moment, because this hallway obviously was hidden for a reason and wasn't supposed to be found.

* * *

><p>(Twilight town, 3:00 A.M. Saturday morning) I awoke in a confused daze and realized that I had just woken up from a dream, noticing that it was still very early since the sky emitted no light that would indicate that the sun would be rising soon. My room feels uncomfortably warm and my face is all sweaty so I open my window halfway and feel a refreshing breeze. The wind smelled of dew and nature which I found to be extremely relaxing, and I rested my head back on my pillow. The sound of something lightly jumping unto my windowsill caught my attention and saw the silhouette of what I guessed could only be a cat sitting on the window pane. I looked at me with a fierce intensity and I felt and uncomfortable sensation in my chest. It slowly trotted onto my bed sheets and I could feel its paws resting on my legs which were under the sheets. I noticed something in its mouth that appeared disheveled and gave off a red tint in the moonlight, which made me think that it had killed a bird and for some reason brought it to me. I leaned up in my bed and shooed it away but it dropped whatever it was holding onto the foot of my bed, which I reluctantly examined. It turned out not to be a dead bird or dead anything but instead a tangled pile of red yarn that looked like it had been through hell and back. I picked it up with only two fingers and flung it on the floor, it landing on one of my shirts that I had been to lazy to hang up. The incident was, indeed, weird but I felt a wave of tiredness fall over me and decided that I would tell my friends what happened tomorrow. With that, I blacked out, with a excited smile on my face.<p> 


	2. Chapter 3

It took a minute for Demyx to realize what had just happened as he crouched on his knees and hands to prevent himself from landing on the floor. His hands felt sore from the landing as he picked himself up and analyzed the walls that were no longer simply white and nothing else. Large wires weaved themselves over and under one another and then disappeared into the abyss of metal and rubber, leading to who knows where. Demyx couldn't help but to reminisce on his several experiences with wires and his unfortunate track record with them, remembering one incident in particular. Having water as the main element in his fighting style just made him all the more vulnerable to misplaced wires and broken toasters.

Getting up Demyx felt he had no other choice than to walk forward through the dark passageway and hope that it would lead him to something useful or familiar. The hall smelt of slightly burned rubber and metal that made him feel nauseas; the air tasting like the raw, pronounced flavor of iron found in blood. The hallway continued to grow darker and darker, until only the dim outline of the wires protruding from the walls could be seen. A fair amount of steps later Demyx could no longer see anything that was in front of him and felt his balance thrown off since he had no indication of which direction he was heading. Being in the darkness made him feel claustrophobic and anxious, so he would constantly turn around and see the dim lighting of his previous location, which gave him a feeling of security. It was not until the light could no longer be seen from the other end that Demyx truly began to freak out and wonder if he should turn around. Although he clearly had no idea as to the correct route back to the first room he had begun his expedition was at, wasting hours searching for it seemed like the favorable option compared to discovering where the pitch black hallway lead. Holding onto the right (or left) side of the wall he made a complete 180 and cautiously began to feel his way back to the visible section of the hallway.

After taking a number of steps in the opposite direction Demyx suddenly felt as if someone was watching him approach. Everything was still pitch black and Demyx felt almost as jumpy as when he was around Xaldin. A faint scratching sound could be heard from the direction he was heading and the feeling of a living object with sharp claws pounced onto his chest, destroying whatever little courage he may had had left. Gasping and then partially screaming, Demyx clawed at the thing and threw it off of him; then proceeded to sprint in the opposite direction of it until a bluish luminescence began to light the dark hallway. Demyx's spirits drastically improved as the hallway became lighter and he could make out the small details of what lie at the end of the hall. Taking a glance behind him revealed nothing more than the dark abyss that he had come from and memories of his moment of terror gave him a cold, sinking feeling in his chest.

Demyx allowed himself a few deep breaths of air and relief as his sprint had become a jog, and his jog had become a moderately paced walk. Up ahead was a peculiar sight that reminded him of the rose wielding Marlexia who used the flowers along with his scythe in combat. The object ahead of him resembled a giant, opaque flower that had not yet bloomed; shielding itself from the elements of the outside world. The bluish light revealed no apparent walls or any other solid surface aside from the ground and the mysterious flower bud that grew from underneath it. The room or space instead resembled a hole in a cloud of fog, making everything beyond him and the structure undecipherable.

Demyx took his first step into the blinding room and felt the pupils of his eyes contract in pain due to the transition from complete darkness into blinding light. The colorless bud proved to be even larger than himself times three, and the appearance of its surface alone seemed impenetrable. Unable to resist, he walked up to the gigantic plant and touched the surface of one of its leaves, only to realize that it was anything but a plant. The surface was made of some kind of extremely strong metal that hurt Demyx's knuckles when he decided to punch it but proved that the inside of the structure was hallowed. The echo of Demyx's several blows where faint but audible, the sound quickly being muffled by what he believed to be the overlapping of metal layers that where hidden by the outer shell. He kicked the bottom of the structure out of habit and no echo was heard, minus the gasp of pain from Demyx as he clutched his foot; his big toe now throbbing. He concluded that the root of the plant was not hallow like the rest of the structure.

Wandering around the bright chamber in search of an exit, Demyx noticed that the hallway had come from had disappeared completely, which brought back the feelings of claustrophobia and hopelessness he had felt in the dark hallway. He now had no sense of direction to where he had originally entered from and as he walked toward the omnipotent fog; the air begining to feel humid but chilly. A strange gust of cold air blew against Demyx which seemed to become more pronounced as he walked further into the fog. Only after a few more cautious steps Demyx found the solid structure of a wall that blew the cold, damp air into the room through thousands of tiny holes that came from who knows where. It was odd that a room with only a giant but elegant hunk of metal would require these types of conditions, unless it was really a computer that needed cold air to prevent it from overheating. The situation as a whole made little sense and the fact that the air was humid didn't fit in with the theory that the room's purpose was to house a giant computer. After following the ventilated wall a short while and taking notice of the round, domelike appearance of the chamber as a whole, he discovered a roughly made chasm in the structure which looked as though it were torn open. Demyx circumnavigated the room to make sure he didn't miss anything before leaving the room, the humidity reaching its pinnacle when he exited the room.

* * *

><p>"Hey Pence! Wait up!" Running through one of the many back alleys of Twilight town, Roxas eagerly approached his friend Pence who turned around to see him running up the hill he was on. The sun was already relatively high and one could only guess that today would be a scorcher. Bugs could be heard chirping from the nearby forest and the faint sound of a train could be heard moving in the distance, a whistle sounding after a few moments. Pence grinned brightly when he realized who it was.<p>

"Hey Roxas, are you ready for today? I hope you got enough sleep because we are gonna be working our butts off until we make enough money to make our parents jealous, or at least Hayner satisfied. We both giggled, knowing how obsessive Hayner would get regarding how much money we would need as backup in case some spontaneous disaster occurred on our adventure.

"Oh yeah, I'm defiantly ready for today, I can't wait to begin working so I can finally go to the beach! It sounds like so much fun!" One again I felt myself getting a little more enthusiastic than I had intended which could be heard in my voice which became increasingly louder. Pence winced at this as if his ears where in pain but no sooner began to laugh sweetly at Roxas's enthusiasm.

"Wow, I wish I still got that excited over going to visit the beach, don't use up all you're energy before you even start working", Pence joked as he continued walking up the hill, which lead to the train station plaza.

"Heh, yeah, I guess I got a little overexcited, to be honest I woke up a few times last night because I couldn't stop thinking about everything. Oh yeah, and some cat came into my room and dropped this huge glob of string or something on my bed; I was kinda grossed out after that". My face scrunched up slightly when I remembered this but Pence just looked confused.

"Huh? How did it get in your room in the first place? Did you have your window open?" Pence's walking was becoming noticeably slower as he found my story interesting.

"Well yeah, it was pretty cool out last night", Roxas hadn't put much though into last night events and was half asleep when the cat visited. "Ya know, now that I think about I'm almost positive that I had my screen down… Yeah! I had it locked to because my mom's always paranoid that someone's gonna kidnap me somehow" At this Pence snorted when he tried to contain his laughter. They had now stopped walking completely and Roxas turned to face his friend.

"Ahh Ha Haa Haaa, (snort) wa- wait, she thinks you're gonna be abducted? Why?" Pence continued laughing for about a minute, bringing tears to his eyes from his amusement. Pence attempted to gain back his composure but was visibly trying to stop laughing, curious of Roxas's response. Roxas rolled his eyes and continued walking up the hill as he explained his situation.

"Well… I don't know, she's always been like that, like…. she's worried I'm gonna leave her and dad without any explanation." Roxas suddenly looked sullen as he spoke and followed the ground instead of looking forward. "I mean, why does she think that? I'd never do that to my parents and I always listen to her but… she makes me feel so guilty, like she can't trust me or something". Pence had now stopped laughing completely and looked generally concerned, perhaps even a little guilty.

"Aw man, I'm sorry I brought that up I didn't know"- Pence was about to finish but was cut off by the sound of Olyette screaming from the direction they were heading. No sooner after they heard her did they notice her sprinting down the hill with what appeared to be sea salt ice cream in her left hand. She was giggling but was out of breath when she reached them.

"Ha Ha hey guys whats up?" Olyette grinned with fake innocence as sweat rolled down her face. It only took a few moments for Hayner to catch up, looking equally out of breath but had a look of determination.

"Hah, now you can't escape, now give me back my breakfast before it melts", Hayner was breathing heavily but looked like he was ready to pounce if the situation turned against him.

"Okay, okay, here", Olyette walked up to him and handed him his ice cream which he gladly accepted and devoured within seconds.

"Well at least you got some exercise but I still don't understand why you're eating sea salt ice cream at eight in the morning, your gonna get a stomach ache you know", Olyette finished and gave him a disappointed look to cover her amusement. Hayner pouted.

"It's the breakfast kind", Hayner stated bluntly, but upon noticing the blank stares he received from his friends he explained himself further, "Come on, you guys haven't heard about the breakfast cereal ice cream? It tastes just like cereal but is frozen and is ten times better". The expressions of his friends barely changed with this explanation so Hayner just ended the conversation with, "Whatever", and pouted once more before looking away.

"Sooo anyway, I guess we should check the jobs board now that we're together? I want to get started as soon as possible", Roxas looked at the others as he put his hands in his pocket.

"He's right, let's give it our all today and the rest of the week so we won't have to worry about money when we're down the shore", Hayner smiled with excited determination as he lead the way through the back ally's.

Now that their attention was directed toward vacation, the group found themselves to be blissful just from each other's company. Pence walked next to Hayner but found himself searching Roxas's face for any hint of distress. He still felt bad for reminding him of his troubled relationship with his mother but decided that he would apologize after Hayner and Oylette left so he wouldn't put Roxas in an awkward position. Hopefully Roxas would forgive him and maybe even tell him more about his family issues since he was now slightly curious. Pence looked into the bright sun and squinted, wondering what kind of memories he would have by the end of summer.

* * *

><p>Narrow hallways housed what could be assumed the seedlings of the large structure in the previous room which lined against the walls; somewhat resembling opaque corn stalks. The hallway, like everything else he had seen, was a flawless white that led to a giant black door that was embedded with the symbol of the nobodies. It appeared to be thicker than any of the doors he had previously encountered and gave Demyx the inclination that something important was behind it. He moved closer to the door and heard several clicks come from the inside of it before a final 'ping' was heard, and then nothing. He stood directly in front of the door, confused, and wondered why it wasn't opening. Nothing around the door suggested that it could be opened by means of a lever nor was there any keyhole or computer system that could ask for a password. Like every other time Demyx didn't understand something, he decided the best option was to kick whatever was frustrating him.<p>

The metal frame of the door was sturdy but surprisingly hollow from the inside. Kicking it hadn't hurt nearly as much as last time and the sound of the impact echoed lightly. Still, this did not improve his situation since the door was still locked and he was very lost. He mumbled and complained and wined but the door stood still, apathetic toward Demyx's childish pleads. It took only about ten minutes before he gave up upon trying to coax the door to open, and leaned against it before sitting. Demyx had run out of options and wondered if he would be lost forever.

Demyx, who was so caught up in his recent rejection from the door, failed to notice that he was not alone in the room. A white paw touched the floor and then lifted, to be exchanged by another paw. The creature walked with air of determination but also with grace. It entered the room where Demyx sat with a defeated look and did not look up when the creature neared him. It settled itself in front of him, looking almost invisible with its eyes closed and its white fur matching the opaque surroundings. It paused a moment before letting out a fragile meow, and waited for the man in front of it to react.

The almost eerie sound that brought Demyx out of his mourning caused him to lift his head from his knees almost instantly. At first he didn't see except a peculiar blur of white in front of him. No sooner after he had thought this, however, did two dark blue eyes appear in front of him, which stared expectantly at him. Demyx's high pitch scream traveled throughout the chamber and he slid along the wall he was leaning on until he was a good distance away from whatever was in front of him. Only a moment later did he recognize the creature.

"Aha! Now I got you!" Demyx pointed an accusing finger at the feline with extreme vigor and satisfaction, but did not immediately approach the cat. He slowly advanced toward it and a creepy grin made its way onto his face. This cat should have messed with a different organization member, because he used primarily water as a weapon. According to his few experiences with cats, he learned that water was something they loathed.

The cat rolled its eyes but began to back up as Demyx made his advance. It continued to do this until it appeared to be trapped in the corner of the room and waited for Demyx to get closer, it appearing calm but remaining on all fours. Just as Demyx was just about to leap at the furry nuisance, the cat effortlessly walked through a now very obvious flap in the steel door that allowed small animals or creatures access to the next room. Demyx wondered how he did not notice it before.

He walked toward the opening and found it to be noticeably larger when he knelled down to inspect it. He looked through it after pushing the flap out of the way and didn't know what to make of what he saw. The room was almost completely dark minus a few blinking lights and what looked to be a blue screened monitor. Finally, he had found something that looked to be of importance and Demyx felt reassuring warmth in his chest. While he gazed at the monitor, the silhouette of the feline that brought him to where he was could be seen against the brightness of the screen.

"Okay, so maybe you're not following me just to be a pain after all"… Demyx struggled to look at the cat from the awkward position he was in as he tried to squeeze through the cat door. His first attempt to get through failed awfully after he tried to inch through the door with both of his arms at his sides. The second attempt was a lot more successful, at first, when he reached out with both arms forward and squeezed the first half of his body through. Everything seemed to be working in his favor until he tried to get the lower portion of his body through, which became stuck.

This situation made no sense, since Demyx was by no means fat nor was he strongly built. Lanky was the term that would best describe his appearance; as his waist was naturally skinny and the rest of his body lacked any kind of muscle tone. Something in his coat pocket was preventing him from crawling through the door, and despite much effort he could not push himself though since something sharp kept poking at his side when he attempted to do so. The thought of Vexen scolding him once again for doing something stupid played out in his head, which was a situation that occurred frequently and normally resulted in Demyx writing down in his note book of what not to do on a mission. It took only a moment afterward for him to realize what was obstructing the passage through the door.

After joining the organization and frustrating Vexen and pretty much everyone else with his forgetfulness without end, he was assigned a small notebook so he could write down commands and information that he would otherwise forget. This had made missions and life itself a lot easier, although he would sometimes forget to bring a pen with him, causing Vexen to say something along the lines of 'you insolent fool'. Today Demyx had remembered to bring both his pen and notepad, which were now only making his mission more complicated. He attempted to reach into his pocket with his one arm but couldn't get it through the narrow spacing at first. After readjusting himself, he finally managed to grab his notebook with the tips of his fingers and pulled it out of his jacket pocket, which he tossed into the next room. With a little push, Demyx slid the rest of his body into the room in question.

There was no doubt in Demyx's mind that this room was of incredibly importance. Not one, but several monitors were present in the moderately small room, some which spewed sequences of numbers and letters, as if analyzing something. Another monitor displayed what looked to be a document in progress, with a long column of statements, large numbers, 3D models, mathematical equation's, and a single name at the top of the page, Roxas.

The name was defiantly familiar as Demyx had heard about him before, but really had no idea who he was. Axel had mentioned him a few times in hushed conversations with other organization members, who would look frustrated or annoyed when the name was brought up. He was never discussed, as far as he understood, by the organization as a whole, but got the notion that the others despised him greatly.

Despite all the activity on the computers the room looked like it hadn't been occupied by any person for a good amount of time. The desk, floor, and everything else were literally spotless, and the computer chair was neatly tucked in under the desk. The unfinished document was the only indicator that someone had been in the room recently. Demyx pulled out the chair from under the desk and sat as he wiggled the mouse to check if it worked. He could only wonder how long ago 'recently' was.

* * *

><p>Everything was in complete order and the room was utterly silent save for the sound the turning of a page in a notebook or an especially deep breath which would usually end in a sigh. Occasionally someone would get up to retrieve something and leave the room, but would always return a few minutes later with whatever they needed and a bored look on their face. If the room wasn't so quite this would be a typical day in the large castle, or at least how it's been for the past few weeks.<p>

Across the table, Vexen searched through one of his many research notebooks that contained information he had gathered from experiments conducted on the lesser nobodies. One could tell that he was deep in thought because he wore a frown and held both sides of the notebook tightly; which was something he always did when he was trying to figure something out. Larxene flipped through a summer issue of a fashion magazine and lazily eyed the various pieces of clothing being advertised before moving to the next page. She was lying down on a couch when she felt the urge to look up from her magazine, and noticed Axel was staring at her from a chair opposite of the couch. He looked so bored that one might find it pathetic, but concern also radiated from his gaze. She closed her magazine and sat up straight to meet Axel's gaze.

"So, are you going to say something or am I just that entertaining?" Larxene asked with a hint of agitation in her voice.

Axel looked up at the ceiling for a moment, as if he was hanging onto a thought, but ignored Larxene's question when he responded

"Do you think… that Demyx had a point about searching for Xemnas? I'm starting to wonder if waiting around in this castle is such a good idea".

Larexen's face scrunched up as a smirk appeared on her face. She lay silently for a single second before responding.

"Ha! Is that what's been eating at you're for the past few hours? Demyx just came up with the whole haunted castle thing just so we would pay attention to him. I mean, I know your no genius, but I would expect you to at least understand fact from incredibly stupid". Demyx glared at her.

"You know that's not what I meant, and Demyx wasn't the first one to suspect that Xemnas is hiding something from us. If anything, He may have figured out something that we aren't supposed to know and may have already found something useful! Axel looked almost convinced when he spoke until he fully comprehended his words, and then added. "Although, that does seem unlikely…" He opted to stare at the floor until Larexene responded.

Surprisingly, Larexene did not laugh at him this time, and had a serious, somewhat troubled look on her face as she looked to her side. The room was completely silent for a good minute until a sigh came from her before she finally spoke.

"I think… this castle is beginning to get to all of us" Larexene said, keeping her focus on nothing specific as she continued to glare to her right.

Axel looked up to see a distressed expression pasted on Larexene's face, which told him everything he needed to know without her uttering a single word. Vexen, however, did not stay silent.

"Will you two asinine morons stop talking already? I'm reading something very important that concerns everyone in the organization and I do not want to hear about your pointless affairs", Vexen growled as he gave the two an especially nasty look. Larexene broke out of her momentary seriousness and was quick to retort back at him.

"Oh, shut it old man. I almost forgot that you were here but you totally ruined the mood by reminding me that you are. Go read your stupid diary somewhere else", Larexene couldn't suppress a smirk as she knew her response would agitate Vexen.

"Wha-what?! How dare you insult my tedious efforts to understand our origin and reason of existence! By understanding the elements that make up each heartless and nobody I will soon understand where our power originates from! Do either of you have a lick of sense to understand what that would mean for us!?" Vexen started at them wide eyed with much vigor, apparent by the way he composed himself and his voice. He might as well have been mute, since neither heard his words with pity.

"Yeah, yeah you and your dumb experiments, we know you're just as fed up with this castle as we are" Larexene replied nonchalantly. "If you really want to help the organization why don't you go find out where Xemnas is hiding?" Larexene did not expect him to consider her advice and only said so half- heartedly as her attention returned to Axel.

"Well… perhaps I will then!" Vexen spit out semi confidently. "At least Xemnas will be mature and able to comprehend the wonders of my research while you… 'others' sit around and wine like a bunch of spoiled brats!" His best attempt to look threatening failed as Axel stared at him with disappointment and pity while Larexene tried to hold back a giggle. Vexen took this as his cue to leave and strutted toward the door leading to the hallway. When the door opened he paused for a second, and glanced back at the two crossly. With a final 'humph!' he walked out.

* * *

><p>The sound of previously repressed laughter now roared through the walls of the room that Vexen had occupied only moments before. There was no doubt whose laugh it was and Vexen couldn't help but to feel extreme hate toward the pair who did nothing but disrespect his endeavors. The fact that he was older than many of the other members, or as he termed it 'more mature', only made it easier for Larexene to mock him, Axel to ignore him and occasionally join Larexene in mocking him, and Demyx to ask him a billion questions whenever he didn't understand something. Vexen was fed up with being treated like a nobody (pun intended =D) and wanted to bring humiliation and shame upon those who treated him unfavorably. His greatest obstacle; he hadn't a clue of how he would bring about his wishes.<p>

Walking down the unnecessarily large hallways, Vexen decided that he would rest in one of the many chambers that the castle housed and try to ease his troubled thinking. Maybe his thoughts would sort themselves out while he retreated into his unconscious and let his thoughts think for themselves. The least he could hope for was that he would feel rejuvenated once he had woken and would be able to plot more clearly and develop fresh thoughts that would hopefully conjugate into a plan.

A large, elegantly styled sofa, rested against the wall opposite of the door Vexen entered from. Its frame was made from what looked to be polished mahogany while the pillows where made from a course, synthetic material. Its purpose was clearly not to bring comfort to those who sat on it, but to serve as decorum. Vexen found the piece of furniture to be worthy enough to nap on, however, and adjusted a few pillows before he laid down, and slowly drifted off into sleep.

BAM! Vexen jumped at the sound of something crashing into the ground about a foot away from his head. He was now standing on the sofa and had a look of pure terror on his face after being woken up from what sounding like a car crash. On the floor was a mixture of crumpled metal, wires, what looked to be pieces of plastic, and glass, which had been propelled across the room upon crashing. When he recovered enough from his initial shock, Vexen inspected the wreckage further and discovered that a large TV or perhaps a computer screen had inexplicably fallen from the ceiling. He could only fathom how or why this had happened.

Another object suddenly crashed right next to the now destroyed screen. It didn't make nearly as loud of a crashing sound but still caused Vexen to jump. Shot across the room where keys with letters, which made the second object easy to identify. It was now clear that the screen was for a computer and that the two objects went together. This couldn't have been a coincidence, and someone obviously wanted to get his attention even if it meant interrupting his nap. The only thing that Vexen could think about at the moment though was whether the computer also came with a desk; and if yes, what would he hide under?


	3. Chapter 1

I was having such an great time as I somehow gained the ability to glide through the air whenever I felt like it and drift over twilight town, some creepy mansion that had a forbidding feeling toward it, and an island which seemed so familiar yet I could not recall where I had seen it. I was completely at peace yet at certain moments I would experience a feeling or emotion so extreme that my eyes would water. At the time I had no awareness that anything else existed except my existence and all the shapes and colors that my mind had memorized. My body felt weightless in the air as I soared through clouds in the sky that smelled like shampoo that I had used when I was a little kid. My surroundings began to make me feel uncomfortable; however, as things began to look hazy and my body began to feel like a solid object again. I really didn't want to leave the dream I was in and attempted to force the dream to continue. Of course this did not work and the stupidity of my tired thoughts slowly began to recede as I became aware of my true surroundings. Soon I was almost completely conscious and I felt disappointment setting in as I realized that I really had only been dreaming and nothing else. Noticeably I had once again drooled during the night and my pillow was wet from it, which annoyed me.

After about ten minutes of just laying on my bed and not really thinking of much I decided to sit up and look out my window. The sky was still dark blue but I could tell that the sun would begin to rise in less than an hour. I appreciated waking up at this time in the morning not because I would get an early start, but because my own willpower was strong enough to wake me instead of some stupid alarm clock whose beeping indicated that it was time to get ready for school. Nothing today, however, could stop me from falling back asleep if I wanted to. Summer vacation had just begun and the sense of freedom only helped me feel more energized. My friends and I had promised to meet up later that morning in our regular hangout spot which had originally been an old garage and start on our list of all the things we were going to do during the summer. I had grown increasingly restless in class the last few weeks but I managed to contain myself and at least put some effort into our remaining schoolwork.

Hayner had declared that once all of the four friends had earned enough money they would go on an awesome adventure starting at the beach, which was a good hour away from twilight town. Surprisingly enough I had never actually been to the ocean. Even if I had been there at a very young age I couldn't remember it so I was very anxious to see it for the first time. Lately many of my dreams took place at a beach and memorized some details so accurately that would completely betray my claims of never visiting the ocean. This made my friends, especially Hayner, baffled about how I knew that the ocean kind of smelled like eggs, or how it felt like to step on a broken sea shell, or even how to climb coconut trees or how to find mushrooms; although that last part really didn't make sense. Despite this unexplainable knowledge, I could tell all my friends where really excited about going and explaining to me why the beach is so fun. Pence pointed out enthusiastically that about every possible flavor of sea salt ice cream is sold on the boardwalk and that lemon lime was his favorite, which caused Hayner to roll his eyes.

Despite my generally normal life strange things began occurring which made me feel isolated at moments from the rest of the world. Last week I had seen an old man cross the street while a little kid playing with a blue ball bounced it off the side of a building. I turned my head the other way for a few moments, distracted, and then turned it back in the direction of the old man a second later. The boy was still playing with his ball as he had been doing but the old man was crossing the street exactly that way he had done a few seconds ago. It didn't make sense as I had already seen him cross the street in the exact same fashion only a moment ago. Most likely I was over thinking the incident and my mind was just playing some silly trick on me but that but similar occurrences like that seem to have become more frequent, and fear over my mental health raised uncomfortable questions. Sleep has not helped reassure me, although my lucid dreams brought me places that made me feel all kinds of things, most commonly reminiscence. After failing to explain the events I experienced and saw during the night I had given up in trying to decipher or explain them.

My friends have only begun to notice that something has been bothering me, Olette the first to point it out when I began to remember things that didn't really happen. It happened about a week ago when all four of us where sitting on top of the clock tower watching the sun set when Pence thought out loud about where we would all go when we were older. His biggest fear was that we would lose contact with each other when school ended and that things would never be the same, which Hayner responded by huffing like he always did whenever he believed something to be ridiculous. "We will always be friends despite living far from each other or not", he responded. I felt obligated to recommend a solution to his worries but nothing inspired me worth talking about. Instead a bizarre gurgle vocalized my thoughts and in unison all three of my friends turned their heads toward me .

"Hey Roxas, everything ok in there?" Hayner questioned me, with a smirk.

"Oh, uh yeah… I just… heh… it's nothing", I said shaking my head and putting my hands up defensively. "I just feel like I was about to remember something but I can't remember what is", I smiled sheepishly, and Hayer pouted seemingly over my strangeness. Pence's eyes lit up only a few moments after I spoke.

"Ohhhh, you mean like when you have De ja vu and something seems familiar but you're not sure how", He smiled proudly, making me feel less embarrassed about the situation.

"Yeah, exactly. Like when you mentioned how we are all going to stay connected; I feel like I've had that conversation with somebody before, and exactly like that", I looked down for a second not out of nervousness but over to the ever darkening buildings.

"Hmm, sounds mysterious", commented Hayner in a sarcastic seriousness. I broke out laughing and the others quickly joined in, which helped me forget about the incident for the rest of the night. We all agreed that this summer would be the greatest one yet, and that we would make a load of munny by the time summer was over.

Now it was Saturday morning and I was ready to work harder than I had anytime during the school year, which meant we would all be exhausted by the end of the day. I was more excited than ever now and work wasn't nearly as boring when your friends where around. After getting dressed and drinking a quick glass of milk, I ran out of my house to meet up with my friends at the job postings wall. In the back of my mind something was bothering me, which was not so much a thought but a feeling that made me long for something. Twilight town sometimes seemed so lonely, but I swear in those moments I would experience a sudden lift in my emotions, as if my brain had a switch that could immediately change my mood. I started sprinting down the ally.


End file.
